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COSTA RICA - Sunday 09
January 2005
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ICE President Vows to Combat
Corruption at the Institution
The
president of the Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad
(ICE), Pablo Cob, told in an
interview with Spanish language
daily La Nación how he
intends to cut corruption within
the state controlled
telecommunications monopoly.
Cob says that sharing
information with the Fiscalía
(Prosecutor's office), the
Contraloría (Comptroller) and
the Procuraduría (Attorney
General) he doubts that anyone
will risk taking a change in
breaking the rules.
Cob also told the daily
newspaper that he will push
ahead for a widening and
strengthening of the anti
corruption law called "Ley de
enriquecimiento ilícito de los
funcionarios públicos",
giving judicial investigations
more tools to combat the
problem.
The year 2004 was perhaps the
most difficult year at the
institution in it's 55 year
history with the news that the
French telecommunications
Alcatel firm paid out millions
of dollars to ICE officials and
directors, some ending up in the
pockets of former president
Miguel Angel Rodríguez.
ICE is the sole provided of
telecommunication and electrical
service in Costa Rica, claiming
95% of the country counting with
basic telephone connection and
98% of the national territory
with electrical power and second
in Latin America with complete
internet access.
Costa Rica, thanks to ICE, also
has one of the lowest cost
cellular telephone service in
the world, according to Cob.
Basic telephone service costs
us$7 monthly which includes the
first 60 minutes of calling and
us$0.10 per minute for each
additional minute during peak
hours. Costa Rica and Hong Kong
share the top spot in cellular
telephone usage at about 300
minutes of usage per capita.
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Cold Weather To Stay With Us
Most of This Week
Many tourists come to Costa
Rica to get away from the
cold and snow of the north,
only to find cold and rain.
In San José that is.
The cold temperatures - 68F
/ 20C - this morning at 6am
- along with some is typical
for this time of year for
the Central Valley and the
Caribbean coast, while the
Pacific coast is hot and
sunny.
For the first 10-15 days of
January the San José skies
are filled with clouds and
cold winds make it feel like
the freezing north. The cold
is felt more at night.
But, this will all pass in
the week to come and then
it's back to hot and sunny
days with normal daily
temperatures in the Central
Valley hovering at 82F /
28C.
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